John Winthrop

1. John Winthrop A Modell of Puritan Ideology

2. Facts • Born: January 12, 1587— Died: March 26, 1649 • Occupation: • In England: Lawyer; Lord of the Manor • In Massachusetts Bay Colony: Governor • Background: • Born to wealthy family: father was a lawyer; mother from an upper-class family. • Studied law; did not advance to the bar • Held a post for Court of Wards and Liveries • Twice widowed, and married at third time to Margaret Tyndall, April 29, 1618.

3. Emigration and Colonization 1628: Investors acquire a grant for land between the Charles River and Merrimack Rivers (now Boston); named New England Company 1629: renamed Massachusetts Bay Company, with royal charter to govern its territory 1630: Winthrop arrives on the Arbella (without his wife) 1637: elected as Governor for the first time

4. Autonomy and Government • Massachusetts Bay Company: a two-fold definition of “company” • an economic venture, establishing trade in the New World • a religious venture, allying Puritans who self-identified as “persecuted” by the intolerance for their fundamentalist view in England (a.k.a., radical rightwing conservatives) • a political venture, to obtain autonomy and self-governance for Puritans. • A clause in the original charter did not state specifically where the company were supposed to meet, in effect giving Winthrop the power to create an autonomous government if he wished. • This loophole became the first challenge to England’s authority to govern the colonies.

5. A Modell of Christian Charity • Written and orated either before the embarkation of the Arbella, or during the 1630 Transatlantic crossing. • Spiritually didactic and practically etiological • Reinforced the tenets of Puritanism and encouraged self-reliance • Prepared colonists for the real-life rigors and dangers of colonial settlement, and encouraged interdependence

6. Literary Technique • Literary authority of “Modell” lay in the literal authority of scripture: • Self-authority eschewed • No original imagery or metaphor • No self-attribution • Self-authority eschewed • Scriptural Quotation and Paraphrase for support and interpretation • Exegesis as a literary form • Sermon as an accepted form of Puritan literature

7. Themes That Seeded the Concept of “American Identity” Virtues • Self-reliance • Interdependence • Over-coming hardship and oppression • Charity and Outreach Vices • Exclusionary practices (Octavio Paz, "Puritan society is a culture based on the principle of exclusion.”) • Intolerance for religious difference • Presumption of superiority over indigenous populations • Territorial claim and exploitation of resources

8. Exercise Gather into three groups of (6 or 7), and examine “A Modell of Christian Charity.” All groups should examine how the literal authority of scripture is used by Winthrop to create his own literary voice authority. Additionally, each group should look for allusions or references to the following and discuss how each relates to the importance of "Christian" charity as the model by which the success of the Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England would be guaranteed spiritually, politically, and economically.   Group 1: the concept of original depravity and limited atonement Group 2: irresistible grace and predestination Group 3: covenant theology and the idea of a “City On a Hill”